ISSUED: 30 November 2016
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University will host a town hall-style meeting to discuss the demolition of Sara Cree Hall and the plan to provide future habitat for the neotropical migratory chimney swifts that roost in the building’s chimney. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, December 13, at 5 p.m. in the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education auditorium.
James Vigil, vice president for administration, and Eric Shuler, director of facilities management, will give an overview of the project and talk about what steps Shepherd will take to ensure no swifts are in the chimney when the building is torn down. Vigil and Shuler will also discuss what steps will be taken to provide another habitat for the birds, which are a protected species under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
The Potomac Valley Audubon Society (PVAS), the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Conservation Training Center worked with officials at Shepherd to help them develop a better understanding of the birds and to find a solution for housing them. Bridget Tinsley of PVAS will talk about efforts to raise money to build a structure that the swifts can use after Sara Cree Hall is torn down.
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